Germany is home to Ritter Sport… and that means so many more chocolate varieties than can be found in the UK. There’s a lactose free chocolate, there are regular seasonal releases and you’ll even find two vegan chocolate bars in the range! Let’s take a look at the first one: Dunkle Mandel Quinoa.
Translated, this bar is: Dark Almond Quinoa.
This vegan variety has one thing above all else to offer: a gratifyingly large number of crisp, roasted whole almonds. Accompanied by crunchy quinoacrisps, covered in mellow, creamy dark chocolate. Even if you are not a vegan, you can taste it here with a clear conscience. True to the motto: with nuts instead of must.
Because we’re talking about a vegan product, I’m going to add the list of ingredients: Dark chocolate with whole almonds (21%), hazelnut paste (5%) and quinoa crisp (3%). Cocoa: 50% at least in the chocolate portion.
Ingredients: Sugar, cocoa mass, almonds, cocoa butter, hazelnut pulp, quinoa flour (3%), emulsifier: lecithin (soy). May contain traces of peanuts, other nuts, gluten, milk and sesame.
Now then, because this is obviously manufactured alongside the other Ritter Sport products, there’s a warning relating to cross contamination on the back of the pack. It might contain traces of other allergens. Just though you should be aware.
As for the chocolate itself? Ooooh, I like it.
Giving the chocolate a gooooooood sniff. Multiple sniffs. Excessive inhalation? It smells lovely and rich. Have no doubt, this is a dark chocolate but it’s not really a bitter one. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still a bitterness to the bar, but with at least 50% cocoa in the mix, that should be expected. It’s a pretty difficult thing to describe, especially as personal taste is so varied so I’ll put it like this: I’ve had similar percentage bars before that were far more bitter than this.
I do have a tendency to prefer high cocoa content chocolate but I also don’t care for the bitterness found in the highest percentage chocolates. This one is (to me) smooth, cococay and quite intense but without tripping over that “too dark and bitter” line. In the aftertaste I get some pleasing bitterness at the back end, with a satisfyingly deeply chocolatey flavour.
Ritter doesn’t skimp on filling – this bar is absolutely packed with nuts and quinoa crisps. On that point, I was a little dubious as to the inclusion of quinoa. Classed as a “supergrain” or “superfood”, I feel that Ritter are trying to tap into the current interest in functional food. And I’m sure they are. I just wondered whether it would be at the expense of flavour or texture.
As it turns out, the quinoa crisps work like super mini rice krispies. They’ve got plenty of textural crunch but don’t noticably add much by way of flavour to the bar. Whilst I started off by feeling the quinoa might have been a gimmicky inclusion, I actually like the tiny bits of puffed texture it brings.
Criticisms? I think the almonds are a little bland. For me, they could have used a touch of salt to help bring their flavour out against the dark chocolate. Overall, I liked the bar. It does cost more than a standard 100g Ritter Sport block and it might be awkward to find. If you do spot it though (and happen to like dark chocolate), I’d say give it a try!
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